Sessions   

Teaching Online: Not scary, not bad. Just different.

Wednesday 14 July 3.30-5.00 AEST

Convenor: Nick Munn

This is a collaborative session, led by Nick Munn, in which we will discuss various positive aspects of online teaching, including: potential pedagogical benefits; opportunities to develop new methods and approaches; greater student engagement & enjoyment; & better learning outcomes. Such a session would be incomplete without also analysing the risks of online teaching, so we will also address some of those, and how to avoid them. The session is intended to be informative and exploratory, rather than prescriptive, as there are many ways to do online teaching well, and as people’s experiences of what works and what does not can differ significantly, so finding commonalities in experience is valuable.

Panel on Alternative Academic Careers

Thursday 8 July 3.30-5.00pm AEST

Convenor: Neil Levy 

Panel: Kylie Bourne, Steve Curry, Clare McCausland, Giles Cox

There’s a widespread perception that majoring in philosophy, or doing a higher degree in philosophy, is a sure route to unemployment or low-skilled jobs. The available data doesn’t seem to support this perception. People trained in philosophy seem to do well on the job market. But what skills and tools does philosophy provide? This session opens up the black box, by allowing us to hear from philosophers who’ve gone to successful careers outside academia. Each speaker will speak for 10 minutes, describing their path outside philosophy, outlining how their philosophical training proved useful to their jobs and addressing, if they can, the perception of philosophical training employers have. They will then take questions from the audience. The aim is not only to counter misconceptions about the value of philosophical training in broader society, but also to allow those who might seek alt-ac jobs to better prepare for life outside the academy.

Undergraduate Session

Thursday 8 July 11.30-12.25pm AEST

With keynote Peter Godfrey-Smith